The Premier League’s expert group of doctors are to examine the rules around concussion and head injuries as Tottenham Hotspur were forced to defend their decision to keep goalkeeper Hugo Lloris on the pitch after he had been knocked out in a collision with Everton forward Romelu Lukaku during Sunday’s match at Goodison Park in the face of criticism from Fifa, players’ unions and charities.

Spurs insisted medical staff had given the all-clear for the manager, Andre Villas-Boas, to allow Lloris to play on, but the Professional Footballers' Association called for the decision to be taken out of the hands of medical staff and substitution to be made mandatory.

'Irresponsible'
Fifa's chief medical officer, Prof Jiri Dvorak, said Spurs were wrong to keep Lloris on the pitch and the head injury charity Headway described the club's actions as "dangerous and irresponsible".

Fifa, who have hosted academic conferences with other sports to establish a consensus, reiterated their advice that “any athlete with a suspected concussion should be removed from play, medically assessed and monitored for deterioration”.

Fifpro, the international umbrella group for players’ unions around the world, said thye were alarmed Lloris was allowed to play on.

“Villas-Boas and his staff failed to protect the goalkeeper by allowing him to see out the remainder of the match,” they said.

After the match, Villas-Boas hailed the bravery of his goalkeeper, who collided with Lukaku in the 78th minute of the goalless draw:

“Hugo seemed assertive and determined to continue and showed great character and personality. We decided to keep him on based on that.”

Spurs insisted yesterday their club doctor had given the go-ahead for Lloris to continue after assessing him and said a “precautionary” CT scan after the match had shown that he suffered no ill-effects.

The club did not say whether they had believed him to be concussed at the time. Fifa’s chief medical officer said there was a “99% probability that losing consciousness in such an event will result in concussion”.

It is now understood the Premier League Doctors' Group, which meets several times a season to share best practice and shape medical policies, will address the issue in the wake of several high- profile incidents that have involved Andros Townsend and Mathieu Flamini during the opening months of the season. –
Guardian Service